Are Current Grading Methods an Effective Way to Assess Student Learning

Grading Methods : Assessing Students` Learning

Introduction

U S schools nowadays are being forced to consider struggling students and come to grips with the problems caused by traditional methods of education . Americans public school systems must start questioning the worth of traditional written tests and letter grades . The time is obviously long past to start experimenting with various methods of grading that might enhance the knowledge of students with high intelligence levels in these ignored areas . Grades can no longer be taken just for the sake of efficiency ' They must instead be

br thoughtful processes which reveal insight into a student 's intellectual development and learning progression

With the newly implemented No Child Left Behind Act , the U .S . government has applied pressure to improve education standards and reach out to those students previously allowed to slip through the cracks . Much of this current issue is actively dealt with through curriculum changes and new teaching styles , but many schools are often reluctant to recognize the role that grades can play in student learning

Traditional letter grades based on written tests have monopolized the grading system for too long . Grades , as a symbol of overall worth should reflect more than the verbal /linguistic area of intelligence . As teachers , we must decide how to use grades for benefit , not hindrance focusing on their part in the learning development ability to communicate a student 's learning process . Students are unique , and therefore require unique methods of grading and assessment . With this grading methods must be an effective way to assess students` learning Hence , this research investigates whether the current grading methods are effective in assessing student learning

Literature Review

Records show that teachers have only been formally evaluating students in the United States since the late 1800 's . Before that , educators which is usually single teachers with all elementary grades in one classroom , assessed student knowledge individually , often through personalized observation . Significant changes in student assessment did not come until the early 1900 's when letter grading was first introduced . However , problems with grading methods are no new issues According to Thomas Guskey , a study conducted in 1958 first illustrated the impact that grades can have on student performance . The experiment proved that students given only letter grades on their s did not improve their scores on the next assignment . However , students given individualized feedback in addition to their letter grades were able to score higher on future s . The study concluded that grades do not significantly improve the quality of student learning unless coupled with teacher comments (Guskey , 1994 ,

.18 . Unfortunately , several educators have been ignoring this fact for years . Problems within public school grading methods have long been present , but little has been done to deal with these issues

The problems of ineffective grading method in our current school systems comes from several areas of educational history , but perhaps most obvious is the long-established factory metaphor ' During the early part of the twentieth century , educators began to fashion schools after American...